Test Run
by OftenWrongSoong
Summary: A slanging match turns into a competition as two men of science and engineering pit their creations in a head to head race. For an android emerging into sentience, it could change the way it thinks about humanity, and itself.
1. Chapter 1

"Noonian!"

"Oh for the love of..." Soong threw down the sonic driver. "Yes?"

"Tom's here! He wants to meet the new android!"

"Of course he does." Soong grumbled, scowling. "Can't keep his nose out..."

Muttering to himself, he closed the access port on the android's skull and stalked round the chair to the stairs leading from the lab up to the main living area of the small house.

"You tell Tom I'll be five minutes!" he shouted up.

"All right! I'll let him know!" his wife replied. Still muttering under his breath, Soong turned back to the android looking up at him from the chair. It cocked its head at him quizzically.

"Right!" Soong clapped his hands. "Up! Up! Get up, let's see if we've ironed out those creases!"

"I was not creased..." The android's brows came together in confusion as it rose out of the chair with fluid grace.

"It's an expression, an idiom. It just means..." Soong waved his hands, searching for the right words. "It means, let's see if we've fixed the problem. Come on over here, come on!" Soong turned to his work bench and waved the android over. It cocked its head as its eyes flicked from left to right and back again.

"Idiom;" it murmured. "A group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words."

"Yes, yes, come on, I want to show that damned man what a real scientist can do! Here!" Soong held out a glass. "Take it, then pass it from hand to hand."

Stepping forward, the android reached out and gently took the glass from the scientist's hand. It rolled it between its fingers, delicate sensors under the bioplast that served as skin logging reams of information about weight, texture and tensile strength, while the optical sensors that served for its eyes fed visual details to its neural net to be translated into dimensions and aesthetic details. It passed the glass from its left hand to its right and back again. Soong clapped his hands with delight.

"Wonderful! Here!" He took the glass, and handed the android an old fashioned steel wrench. It studied it, memorising every detail in a fraction of a second.

"Bend it in half, one hand only." Soong ordered. The android put its thumb in the middle of the tool and wrapped its ring and little finders round the lower half, before neatly creasing the wrench down the middle, folding the metal with its index and middle finger.

"Ha! Perfect!" Soong crowed. "One more..." He held out his hand for the ruined spanner, and replaced it with an egg. He flinched slightly as he was showered with shell and yolk, then sighed resignedly.

"I appear to have miscalculated." The android turned its hand to watch the albumen drip through its fingers. Viscosity. _Refraction. Moisture content. Flow velocity._

"No kidding." Soong shook his head and looked down at his shirt. "Come on, let's go upstairs and get cleaned up. Like hell am I letting Tom Handy see me with egg on my face, he'll never let me live it down."


	2. Chapter 2

"Tom!" Noonian Soong beamed at the man as he walked out into the courtyard. Tom replied with a half-hearted wave and a smirk.

"Noonian, you mad old goat, what have you cooked up this time?"

"Old?" Soong held a hand to his chest in mock horror. "Rather say, experienced, venerable, or..."

"Distinguished?" added the android, following the scientist out of the house. Tom's eyes widened as he took in the mechanical man walking beside his friend.

"Ha! Distinguished! Yes, I like that, well done." Soong grinned and patted the android's solid shoulder. "Well, here he is! Say hello to my friend Tom Handy."

"Hello, Tom Handy." The android murmured.

"Well, hello to you too!" Tom put out his hand, and the android cocked its head and looked sideways at its creator. Soong shook his head.

"Probably best if you don't." He quirked an eyebrow at Tom. "Teething troubles," He turned to the android, which was just opening its mouth. "Another expression."

"Ah!" The android's eyes flicked. "Teething troubles; Short term problems that arise in the initial stages of a project. Named for the pain experienced by an infant..."

"It learns fast, I'll say that for it!" Tom guffawed. "Sounds like a damn dictionary though!"

"Yes, well, his language will become more conversational the more he interacts with people."

"So, what's the trouble this time?" Tom queried, looking at his rejected hand. "Not a germophobe, is it? I washed this hand yesterday."

"Please!" Soong scoffed. "He's too intelligent to have phobias! No, just some trouble with calibration, pressure sensors, that sort of thing..." Soong waved vaguely, and Tom thrust his hands into the pockets of his coverall.

"I see... Strong then, is it?" Tom took a slight step back and Soong grinned.

"How about this for strong?" He pulled the crumpled wrench from his pocket. "One hand!"

Tom whistled. "Very impressive!" He shrugged. "But it's a machine. All sorts of machines could do that."

"And he's smart!" Soong patted the android's head. "This positronic brain is a revolution in computing, I'm telling you! The power..."

"A computer!" Tom shrugged again. "Everyone knows computers are smart. They're practically running the show now. Although this one does seem to be an improvement on your last attempt."

"I'm always looking to improve on my previous work." Soong wagged a finger. "All good scientists do, you know."

"Please, I'm improving too!" Tom waved his hand at the transport parked just outside the fence. "Take a look at her! Isn't she a beauty?" 'She' was an all-terrain vehicle, all thick tyres and roll bars, suspension springs and hydraulics. Aesthetically pleasing, if you liked brutalism, Soong mused to himself. He cocked an eyebrow. "It's filthy."

Tom laughed. "Shows she's functional! Wouldn't be any use in putting her together if I wasn't gonna take her out of the workshop." He grinned with all the pride of a new father. "She might not be pretty or smart, but I'd still rather have her than your vanity project."

"Vanity project!" Soong squawked. "This is the culmination of my life's work, the next leap forward..."

"And you made it look just like you! All spindly arms and nose! Probably aerodynamic enough..."

"Aerodynamics has nothing to do with it! You want to talk aesthetics, your damn car doesn't even have any panels!"

"It doesn't need any, keeps the weight down! Your android's got a beak like a toucan and you want to argue looks! You've given the damn thing eyelashes, but what does it actually _do_?"

"He can do anything your stupid buggy can and more, you puffed up..."

"Really? Anything? How fast is that missile-shnozzed bandy-legged bag of bolts anyway?"

"Fast enough to beat your cobbled together scrap-worthy heap of junk!" Soong was puce with rage, Tom's hands were balled into fists. The android's head swung back and forth between the two as if it were watching a tennis match.

"You really think a two-legged robot could beat a custom built ATV in a race? Now I know you've lost your marbles! No wonder they call you Often-Wrong..."

"I'll give you wrong!" Soong bellowed. "You just come back here tomorrow, and I'll make you eat your words! Better than that, by the time we're through, I'll be feeding you your damned ATV piece by piece!"

"Ha!" Tom leaned forward. "You're on! You better get that mechanical moron some wheels, otherwise all it'll get is clogged filters from eating my dust!"

"You pick the route, you thick-necked hooligan, and my boy will beat your jumped-up rust-bucket of a go-kart so soundly you'll be walking home!"

"Fine! I'll be back tomorrow! Better get to work, Often-Wrong, or that automaton of yours will spend the rest of its short existence staring at my mud-flaps!" Tom whirled around and stalked to his ATV as Soong spluttered with fury. He turned to the android, eyes glittering.

"Inside! Come on, we've got to get you back in the lab. Like hell am I going to let Tom Handy get away with this! Missile-shnozz indeed! Ha! We'll show him!"

The android followed him as he strode into the living space of the house, where Juliana was standing holding a pot and two mugs.

"I was just making tea for us when I heard you two going on at each other! What on earth is it now?" She sighed. Soong grinned.

"A race! His stupid dune buggy against our beautiful boy!"

"A race? Noonian, what are you thinking?!" She set the mugs down with a thump.

"I'm thinking I'm going to wipe that smug grin off Tom Handy's face if it's the last thing I do! You!" he pointed at the android. "Downstairs!" He dashed ahead of it, muttering about hydraulic pressure and shock absorbers as he clattered down the steps.

"Noonian! What are you going to do?" Juliana called after her husband, banging the teapot onto the counter. The android turned back to her, golden eyes gleaming.

"We are going to iron out the creases." it said.


	3. Chapter 3

"You really ought to call a stop to this, Noon, it's ridiculous." Juliana murmured.

"Ssssh! Almost done!" Soong bent over the circuitry, squinting. Juliana peered over his shoulder.

"He shouldn't have to prove himself in some ridiculous macho display, he's better than this."

"Ha! You should have heard the nonsense coming out of that man's mouth, you'd feel differently then." Soong growled. He put down the tools. "Done." He closed the chest panel. "How's that, my boy?"

The android's eyes opened and flickered left, right, left, right.

"Initialising... Augmentation integrated."

"Good!" Soong crowed. Juliana folded her arms.

"How do you feel?" she asked the android, head on one side. It looked up at her from its prone position on the workbench.

"I feel nothing. All systems are operating within acceptable parameters."

"Acceptable's not good enough!" Soong cried. "We need you running at peak efficiency!" He bustled away to his tool chest, muttering.

"Noon, it's not fair on him. He's just passing into sentience. This is a delicate time for him, he doesn't need this kind of pressure." Juliana shook her head. "I'm worried about how this might affect his long-term development."

"Rubbish!" Soong snorted. "A bit of healthy competition never hurt anyone. Besides, he's going to win, aren't you my boy?"

"I am unable to say at this stage." The android sat up and swung its legs over the edge of the workbench. "Not knowing the route, I have no way of extrapolating any conclusive evidence to either confirm or disprove your hypothesis, lacking as I do any information on the distance, terrain..."

"Yes, yes, well let's not worry about it too much." Soong waved away the rest of the android's sentence. "Now, up you get and let me know if anything else needs tweaking. Remember, acceptable is no good, I want optimal!"

The android slid off the workbench and onto its feet. It bounced up and down on the balls of its feet, testing the suspension in its knees and the pressure levels in the hydraulics systems. Looking around the room, its visual feed gave it distance, perspective. Extrapolate distance from here to there, estimate maximum speed and compute hypothetical minimum time to destination...

"Judging from the available information, my maximum speed has increased by thirty-eight point two five percent. My visual acuity is improved by a factor of..."

"Stop this, Noon, please!" Juliana grabbed her husband's arm as he strutted past her holding a cable.

"That's enough, Juli!" He snapped, wrenching his arm from her grip. "If you're not going to help, then get out of the way!" He turned back to the android, and his wife gritted her teeth and stalked up the stairs. The android watched her leave, curious, as Soong peeled a flap of skin from its scalp and plugged a cable into one of its ports.

"Why do humans communicate in such a hostile manner?"

"What do you mean?" muttered Soong, feeding the other end of the cable into a terminal.

"Your interactions with both Tom Hardy and Juliana Soong are adversarial in nature, with emphasis on name-calling, raised voices, confrontational statements..."

"That's not true!" Soong snapped, staring at the information readout on the screen.

"Then these interactions are not a sign of discord?" the android queried.

"I don't argue with Juliana, we just... don't see eye-to-eye about some things." Soong muttered.

"I do not understand."

"No, well, neither do most men." Soong jerked the cable from the back of the terminal. The android's head twitched as the feed was abruptly terminated. "Look, my boy, it's like this. I love her, and she loves me, but that doesn't mean we get along all the time. Sometimes we disagree, it's perfectly normal."

"I see." The android quirked its head. "Do you also love Tom Handy?"

"What?" Soong spluttered. "That opinionated bumpkin? No, certainly not!"

"I am confused." The android frowned. Soong chuckled and patted him on the cheek.

"You still have a lot to learn about humans. But don't worry about that now. I'm going to go get some rest, ready for tomorrow."

"May I remain active tonight? I think there may be some calibrations that I can run to improve my efficiency."

"Of course! Of course." Soong grinned as he strode up the stairs, flicking the lights off as he went.

The android sat in the dark and pondered.


	4. Chapter 4

The day was clear and bright, the dust hanging in the air as the two men pored over the map of the surrounding area, the android peering over their shoulders.

"It's a straight forward route, just a circuit along the ridge, down past the gorge and back." Tom explained, running a finger along the course mapped on the PADD Soong was holding. "About eight miles, give or take, variable terrain... should be a challenge for two legs!"

Soong snorted derisively. "Two legs good, four wheels bad, my friend. The terrain will be no problem for you, will it?"

The android cocked its head. "I would be able to give a more accurate assessment of the situation given a topographical map of the area."

Tom grinned. "Got your batteries all charged up, sonny? You'd better have a fusion reactor tucked away in that chassis somewhere if you're going to beat me!"

The android frowned. "My power cells are..."

"All right, all right!" Soong flapped his hand. "I'm not giving this scoundrel any information he doesn't need."

"As if I'd want to poach your ideas!" Tom scoffed. "I'll stick with my wheels, thanks. Better a motor under the hood than looking up a set of nostrils like a jet intake!"

"Enough!" barked Soong. "This stupid name calling stops now!" He glared at Tom as Juliana came to join them, shaking her head as she walked.

"I'm going to try one more time to talk you both out of this." she said, her brow furrowed. Noonian scowled at her, and Tom looked down at his feet. The android's gaze passed over their faces, its own countenance blank and impassive.

"Fine!" She threw up her hands in despair. Her gaze fixed on the android. "Do you really want to do this?"

It locked its golden eyes on hers. "I am going to wipe the smile from his face. He is an ignorant bumpkin."

She gaped at the android. Soong barked an awkward laugh, Tom had the sense to look embarrassed.

"What... How could you! Where have you learned to say such things?" she gasped.

"Guess he's picking things up faster than we thought!" Soong chuckled. "We'll have to watch our language from here on out. That goes for you, too, Tom! No more slanging matches!"

"Noon, how can you find this funny? He shouldn't be insulting people, he's barely even sentient!" She rounded on her husband. "Whatever tinkering you've done to make him like this, you can put it right as soon as you're all done with this ridiculous testosterone-fueled competition!" She turned towards the long drive leading to the main road to the settlement, where the growl of an engine announced the arrival of a large transport. "Oh for the love of... what now?"

The transport pulled up to the fence line and disgorged thirty or so of their fellow colonists, laughing, joking and shoving to line up along the wooden boundary. Soong glared at Tom, who smirked.

"Okay, okay, so I may have mentioned this to a couple folks in the bar last night..."

"Fine by me!" Soong snarled. "They'll all be here to watch my boy come home, while your stupid trolley's stuck in a sand dune somewhere! Are we doing this or not?"

"Ready when you are, Often-Wrong!" Tom waved mockingly as he swung himself into the driving seat and began his checks. Juliana took one more look at the android before shaking her head and moving to join the crowd. Soong turned to the android.

"No shoes?" he said, looking it up and down. The android splayed its toes, digging them into the packed dirt of the drive.

"I have calculated that being barefoot will be more efficient, even taking into account the addition of running cleats to a pair of..."

"I trust your calculations." Soong patted the android's shoulder. "Looks like we've got an audience."

The android's gaze swept over the assembled crowd. "Then we will have witnesses to Tom Handy's humiliation."

Soong guffawed. "Don't let your mother hear you say that! I'll be riding shotgun up with Tom, make sure all's fair and square. I'm looking forward to gathering some fascinating data from this. Your transceiver operational?"

The android's head twitched as it activated the subspace transceiver. "Yes."

"Good! Let's get this show on the road!" Soong gave his android a hearty thump on the back and clambered with difficulty into the improvised dicky-seat on the ATV, tapping away at the PADD to pick up the feed from the android's sensor readouts as he fastened the four point harness.

The android bent down and scooped out a depression from the drive. It pushed its left foot into the hole and tamped the hard earth back into the shallow groove with the ball of its foot before crouching to a start position, fingers pressing lightly to the ground, eyes fixed on the horizon.

"Oh!" shouted Soong over the rumble of the ATV's engine. "Don't forget, use that big brain of yours! Remember, you can go places wheels can't!"

There was no answer from the motionless figure crouched by the side of the vehicle. Soong turned to Tom.

"All set?"

"Ready when you are. Check your harness."

Soong tugged at the straps. "Ready for take-off! This is going to be a hell of a test run!"

Tom grinned. "I'm as curious as you are, old man. Your call."

"Ready?" Soong cried. "Set..."

The android raised itself slightly, and the synthetic tendons and muscles in its legs flexed and bunched as it prepared hydraulics and servos. Tom's foot dipped onto the accelerator and the engine of the buggy throbbed. The crowd shouted and jeered.

"GO!"

 _Hydraulic pressure at maximum. Fluidic system fully charged. Power transfer rate optimal. Power assisted suspension system active._

"Holy shit!" The ATV leapt beneath them as Tom dropped the clutch, the wheels throwing clouds of loose dirt into the still air. Soong was pressed back into the seat as the vehicle surged down the track.

 _Joint stress at seventy-eight point four percent of maximum acceptable tolerance. Distance to ridgeline; three point four two kilometres. Approximate speed..._

Soong lifted the PADD to check the readouts as the acceleration eased and the buggy hit its stride. "Holy shit!" he shouted again. "Look at that!"

 _Approaching maximum velocity within acceptable tolerance levels..._

The digital readout of the ATV's speed crept up, and Tom kept his foot on the throttle as the vehicle howled along the track. Soong craned his neck to look over his shoulder, but the clouds of dust were obscuring everything in the ATV's wake.

 _Estimated time to ridgeline..._

"Here's where the track stops, hold on!" Tom yelled, and the tyres hit the loose sandy dirt of the scrub land, jolting the men as the ATV scrambled over the suddenly loose ground, throwing up stones and tearing at the dry grass. Tom down-shifted and the buggy surged forwards once more, but not before _three minutes nine point seven seconds_ a figure streaked past, the rough ground powdering under the duranium feet _maximum acceptable velocity reached_ stones flying as its toes dug into the dirt with each flying step s _ixty-four point nine-oh two four kilometres per hour_ face impassive as it scanned the landscape, anticipating every shifting pebble and mound _projecting course of opposition_ body held at almost at forty five degrees as the legs pushed like pistons, powering it towards the ridge.

"Look at this telemetry!" Soong cried as the ATV thundered after the android. "I can't believe the readings I'm getting!"

"Believe it, my speedo's reading over forty miles an hour!" Tom shouted. The ridgeline loomed as the ATV drew level with the android. It turned its head to regard them for a moment, then peeled away from their line, heading uphill towards the highest point of the ridge.

"Where's it going? That's not on the course!" Tom bellowed, and Soong laughed aloud.

"He's going where you can't go!"


	5. Chapter 5

Bounding up the rise, the android scanned back and forth, analysing the terrain. The ATV would run along the base of the ridge to the point where the ground dropped away into the narrow gorge. There was a band of flat land between the two features that skirted the end of the ridge, and that was the point to tack back around the rise and head back to the homestead. As it leapt from boulder to boulder along the high point of the elevation, sensors filled its positronic mind with thousands of data points. It filtered the relevant information to form an acceptable strategy.

"I've lost sight of it!" The ATV rumbled along the rough base of the ridge.

"You keep your mind on your driving!" barked Soong. "He's okay, if these readings are anything to go by..."

"There!" Tom pointed at the figure streaking across the jagged top of the hill. "What's it doing? It'll lose time going up that way!"

"I trust him! He's smarter than both of us put together!"

The gorge was alongside them now, the gap of passable terrain narrowing as the ridge closed in.

"I've lost him again, must be somewhere above us." Tom's words were almost drowned out by the engine noise reverberating off the rock-face looming closer. Soong's eyes were glued to the screen of the PADD.

"I don't believe this..." Tom shouted, and Soong raised his head in time to see the android take a flying leap, directly over the ATV.

"No!" Soong shrieked. "You've miscalculated your trajectory!" The android sailed over them, twisting in the air, as its diagonal flight path bought it down in front of the buggy, directly into the narrow canyon alongside them.

"Stop! Stop!" Soong shouted, and the buggy screeched to a halt in a shower of dirt and pebbles, Soong already half out of his harness. He dashed to the edge of the drop and scanned the base of the gorge, looking for white-gold skin or the glint of meal.

"There! Holy shit, that's insane!" Tom was grabbing him by the shoulder, a shaking hand pointing to the opposite wall of the chasm. The android was flying up the rock-face, running still, its hands finding every hold, feet exploiting every cranny. It gained the top and set off again along the opposite side of the drop-off, and Tom was leaping back into the ATV, laughing with delight.

"Come on, Soong, the race is still on!"

Analysing the topography as it pounded along, the android was having increasing difficulty disregarding the warnings from various sensors, informing it of tolerance levels met, exceeded, unsafe, unacceptable. For every alert it shut down, another took its place as it thundered along the relatively easier ground. It knew that the move back to the other side of the gorge was necessary for it to remain within the parameters laid out for the course, if it had calculated the thickness of the drawn line correctly, but the quickest way to get back to the other side would push its stress tolerance past acceptable safe operating parameters.

Its head twitched. _Safety protocols disengaged. Early warning system shut down. Damage control sensors disconnected._

"What is he doing?" Soong's eyes widened as the PADD displayed the latest readouts from the sprinting figure running alongside the gap.

"I don't believe it!" Tom thumped the accelerator, the ATV lurching, engine howling as it put on a burst of speed.

"What are you doing?" Soong cried as he was jolted by the sudden acceleration.

"Trying to keep up! Look at him go!"

The android had veered away from the edge, away from the course, as the end of the ridgeline loomed above the buggy.

"Here's our turning point! You got any idea what he's planning?" shouted Tom as the end of the hill rushed towards them.

"He can't..." Soong's eyes were wide as he watched the android's path curve back towards them, and towards the narrowest point of the chasm. With a phenomenal burst of speed the android accelerated towards the gap and leapt d _istance twelve point three four meters_. It twisted slightly in the air to bring itself sideways on to the ground rushing towards it _optimal landing position for minimum damage obtained_ , and met the opposite side of the gorge with its left foot in a long slide and a shower of dirt and stones, left palm to the earth s _tress level of left knee one hundred and twenty four percent of acceptable tolerance level, fracture of left humerus, hydraulic rupture in hip adductor, dislocation of left ankle, left hand little finger dislocated at_ _metacarpophalangeal joint_. The ATV was almost on top of it when it pushed itself upright. Tom twitched the wheel and the vehicle slewed sideways into a skid as it heeled over hard into the tight turn, before tearing away. Soong twisted in the seat to look back at the android as it stumbled and fell _immediate repair required, initiating automatic shutdown_ , then hauled itself up _automatic shutdown sequence cancelled_ and set off after them.

"He's damaged." growled Soong, poring over the readouts again. "He's ignoring his sensors. You've got to stop!" he shouted at Tom, who checked his mirror before shaking his head.

"And lose now, after all that? Like hell I will!"

"He's damaged, looks like one leg is broken judging by this data, no way he'll..." The android looked sideways into the cab at the stunned scientist as it put on another burst of speed to bring it level with the ATV. The homestead was in sight now and Tom slammed his foot to the floor, the engine screaming as the revvs climbed.

"You've got to stop, you're losing hydraulic pressure!" Soong screamed at the android's back as it pulled away towards the track leading to the house. Suddenly the ATV lurched as they hit a pothole, there was an almighty bang, and the two men were enveloped in a white cloud of greasy smoke. The howling engine snarled to a grinding halt and Tom hauled on the handbrake before tearing off his harness.

"Out!" he yelled, "That's oil smoke! The heat she's running..." There was a sharp crack from under the hood, and flames licked out around the front of the buggy. Soong fumbled with the clasp on the harness, choking as the smoke turned black, his eyes watering. A white hand reached into the cab and ripped the harness from the seat, and Soong was dragged from the burning vehicle.

The androids chest was heaving as it drew air into its cooling system, but its face was as expressionless as always as it helped the scientist to a safe distance. Tom was regarding the burning wreck of his beloved ATV with his hands thrust deep into the pockets of his coveralls.

"I think a connecting rod broke when we hit that hole." He mumbled. "Crankshaft probably drove it right up through the block... Poor thing."

Soong clapped him on the shoulder. "She put up a good fight, you were just unlucky is all." He turned to the android. "And how about you, eh? What were you thinking? You deliberately shut down your safety protocols!"

"It was necessary." The android murmured, face lurid in the glow of the fire. "I would not have been able to win had my systems remained within tolerance levels."

"You've damaged yourself, is what you've done. Busted hydraulics, dislocations, you've lost all the skin on your hands and feet for goodness sake!" Soong shook his head, and the android raised its hands, turning them to watch the firelight glitter on the exposed metal, highlighting the scratches and embedded dirt and stones.

"Gonna take me hours to fix all that." muttered Soong, throwing his hands up. The android cocked its head.

"I thought you'd be pleased." it said. "I thought you wanted me to win."

"Of course, but not... not by hurting yourself."

"I'm not hurt, I don't feel pain."

"Of course not, I know that." Soong raised the PADD clutched in his hand. Even in the burning buggy, he hadn't been willing to abandon the data he had gathered to use both hands to fumble the buckle on his harness. He looked up at the android and grinned. "But you did save my life. And what a race. What a race! You got anything left in you, lad? I think Tom could do with a hand with his buggy. You got a fire extinguisher in there, Tom?"


	6. Chapter 6

The crowd of colonists raced out to meet them as the android pushed the still-smoldering ATV down the dirt track, the blackened frame dripping white foam. Tom accepted their commiserations with good grace and a rueful smile, and Soong was besieged with questions as the band swarmed around him. The vehicle was still too hot to get close, _seven hundred and forty three Fahrenheit and falling_ and so the android made do with shouting responses _hydraulic system pressure at fifty two percent of optimum_ to queries as and when they were posed, as its metal feet _bioplast sheeting compromised_ ground the path underfoot _fluid pressure dropping_ and its strong fingers _left hand little finger dislocated at_ _metacarpophalangeal joint_ bent the roll cage it gripped.

Juliana raced over, got as close to the android as she could given the heat.

"Are you okay? Noon said you're damaged." She shouted. The android turned to look at her.

"I am, but I'll be all right."

"Did... you...? Noonian! Noonian, he used a contraction!"

"What?" Soong pushed through the crowd as the procession fetched up in the drive of the house. The android released its grip on the ATV, leaving crimped impressions of its fingers in the bars.

"Tell Noon what you just said!" Juliana's eyes were shining, and the android's gaze flicked between their faces.

"I am, but I'll be all right." it repeated, and Soong clapped his hands with delight.

"I wasn't expecting him to pick up contractions so quickly! Maybe listening to us bickering has helped after all! All right," he added, catching his wife's glance, "maybe not, but still! Well done!"

"Are you proud of me?" the android asked. Juliana put a hand over her mouth and nodded, and motioned for it to come closer. The android stepped unsteadily towards her and she gathered it into an embrace. Soong clapped a hand to its back.

"Of course we're proud. Of course." The scientist murmured.

"Well, looks like you got the last laugh, Soong." Tom Handy ambled over, grinning. "He was amazing, just astonishing! If I gotta get beat, well, what a way to go!" He held out a hand to the android, who released Juliana from its embrace. It looked at Soong and, receiving his nod, wrapped one scarred metal hand around Tom's, who shook it enthusiastically.

"I tell ya, people are gonna be talking about this for years! The metal man versus the ATV!" He laughed, releasing the android's hand. "They'll be telling the story to their kids, you'll be legendary!"

"A legend, how does that sound, my boy?" Soong took the android by the arm. "Come on now, we've got to get you patched up. 'Bout time I gave you a name, too! I'd say you've earned it, eh? Legends, myths and legends..." the scientist mused to himself as he led the damaged machine into the house to begin his repairs. "Yes, I have a feeling people will be talking about you for a long time."


End file.
